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Tahiti

So K just booked the flights for our honeymoon! We’re getting married on a Saturday this fall and we’ll be flying out that Tuesday, heading from Atlanta to LA and then on to Tahiti! We’ll be staying in an over-water bungalow in Moorea, most likely at the Hilton property. Private bungalow on the lagoon, snorkeling and swimming from our deck, a glass bottom spot in the living room to view the fish swimming under us (and they have lights to attract them at night), free use of kayaks, a private beach… not too bad if I do say so myself!

We’ll be in Moorea for about a week, flying out the following Wednesday, heading down to New Zealand! We’ll be there from Thursday to the following Thursday (the flight to Auckland will bring us over the date line). We’ll fly from Auckland to LA, LA to Atlanta, getting back on a Thursday night. That gives us a three day weekend to try and recover and get back to work on Monday. We’re both taking off the Thursday and Friday before the wedding, so we’ll be off over three weeks. We’re trying to decide what to do in New Zealand for that week. The country has two main islands. Since we’ll be landing on the north island, we may just stay there. There’s plenty to see and do, and we don’t want to feel so rushed we miss everything and have a crappy time (slim chance of that, methinks). We’ll probably be taking a scenic train ride down the east coast. Lots of things to see and do, so it’s hard to choose. But we can eliminate some based on the first part of our trip. We can go whale watching in Moorea (and swim with dolphins as well). Those are both options in New Zealand, but we may do them in Tahiti first. There is also a glacier to hike on or fly over on the south island. However, we want to do a trip to Alaska some time, and plan on doing the glacier trip there instead. I’m guessing we’ll see the caves with the glow worms, and hit a winery. My favorite wines are the Sauvignon Blancs from New Zealand, so a trip to the source may be worth it. There are lots of beaches there as well, but we’ll have just come from a week over the water. I think we’ll be playing part of it by ear.

We’ve both lived abroad before – I lived in England for 4 years while in the Air Force, and did 100 or so days in the Middle East the summer of 2002 as well. K did a semester abroad in France, and has traveled back to France many times (including last years’ trip when we got engaged) as well as many other places around the world (including Australia). We both are firmly of the belief that you can’t truly learn much about a country’s culture in a week. However, we will be able to see a lot, and enjoy ourselves. I think the Moorea portion will be mostly relaxation. Swimming, snorkeling (which I’ve never done), baking in the sun… The New Zealand portion may involve more hiking and walking and activities. We may need another week off just to recover…